Politician and economist Subramanian Swamy rushes in where angels fear to tread. If today, India’s fist ever ruling Chief Minister has been convicted in a corruption case, this is largely due to his tenacious efforts. President of the Janata Party, which has now merged with the BJP, Subramanian Swamy is known for this tireless pursuit of cases including that of Jayalalitha, the 2G Scam, The National Herald case when he went after the Gandhis and more (Source – DNA).

In 1996, the man filed a disproportionate assets case against J Jayalalitha and Saturday’s verdict from the Bangalore court vindicated his unstinting pursuit of the case. (Source – Indian Express). He has long been a thorn in the side of the ex Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s side and she felt compelled to address a letter to PM Narendra Modi complaining about Dr Swamy’s public ‘advice’ to the Sri Lankan government not to release the boats of TN fishermen. (Source – Times of India)

If the man has got it wrong occasionally – as he did with the EVM machines matter or when he went after P Chidambaram for the 2G scam without being able to prove anything – he doesn’t let that deter him. The man has tremendous support from his legions of fans. When Dr Swamy’s Facebook page shares a poster saying You will not find Hitler Road in Israel, Why do we have Auranzeb road in Delhi? This resonates with all his lakhs of largely right wing supporters and we see 37,000+ ‘Likes’ in less than a day.

He is ably partnered by his wife Roxna, a Parsi whom he married in the United States in the Confucian style. She took up law in her 30’s as the mother of two toddlers, and is now a Supreme Court lawyer who specialises in Writs. She has been involved in obtaining judgements that free private educational institutions from having to follow reservations when they do not receive government aid. (Source – Livemint)

He and his wife make a formidable legal team and she is his staunchest supporter. Roxna believes that he is a “natural senior counsel” without even trying and believes that his brilliance makes him a great candidate for the top job of the nation’s Prime Minister. She believes that Dr Swamy’s actions are those of a patriotic Indian and defends the controversial Op-Ed piece authored by him. This is where he famously suggested the removal of article 370 and the masjid at Kashi Vishwanath temple complex and suggested the enactment of a national law prohibiting Hindus from converting to any other religion.

While frequently accused of having anti-Muslim views, Dr Swamy’s daughter is married to a Muslim herself – his daughter Suhasini, a strategic & diplomatic affairs Editor of The Hindu, is married to Nadeem Haidar, son of Salman Haider who was foreign secretary and external affairs minister in the 1990’s.

Dr Swamy’s name was again embroiled in controversy when his op-ed piece was called into question by Harvard University. In December 2012, Dr Swamy was stripped of his courses from the upcoming summer school curriculum, because “….Swamy’s op-ed clearly crosses the line into incitement by demonizing an entire religious community, demanding their disenfranchisement, and calling for violence against their places of worship”. (Source – Forbes)

His quietly smiling visage graces our TV screens all too often and he seems to delight in the kind of debate that we see on the belligerent Arnab Goswami’s show; arguably Indian TV’s most opinionated argumentative host. He counts the likes of the formidable Ram Jethmalani among his admirers and has the rare distinction of being able to complete entire sentences on the Newshour show. (Watch an excerpt of the Newshour debate below)

Clearly the man marches to the beat of a different drummer than everyone else. In this, he has attracted the strongest support and the sharpest invective. There is no doubt however that Indian politics could do with a few more whistle blowers to shake up the establishment; committed individuals with an unshakable faith in their own views who are looking to clean up the system. Whether we need them to function in the same manner as the controversial Dr Swamy is however open to debate.

Dr Swamy’s efforts have culminated in the recent ‘Guity’ verdit for J Jayalalitha and the pronouncement of her jail sentence. This is being applauded –

@Swamy39 large part of the credit goes to you sir. Indians owe a debt to your efforts!

@Swamy39 Sir is it confirmed…if yes congrats and thanks for fighting against the mighty and corrupt.Truth always triumphs!!!

SwamySePangaMatLena —> “@Swamy39: Jail for Jayalalitha=JJ”

Swamy39 Congrats Guruji #AmmaJail #JailLalitha #JJ

@Swamy39 Karma catchung up with JJ – Jail for Jaya #Jayaverdict

@Swamy39 Cogratulations for your win.What about Maa-Beta our Damad? Even after a year BJP silent on Damad.

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